Several thousand Papuan protesters, led by students, marched towards the governor's office in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province on Thursday, but were confronted by police and soldiers who fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the crowds. The protests have continued on Friday with demonstrators seeking to occupy the governor's office and return an Indonesian flag – a symbol of Indonesian rule of the province – to Jakarta's representative. The protesters were waving the Morning Star flag, a symbol of the Papuan independence movement